Railroad rights of ways become over grown with vegetation and brush and must be cleared. Several apparatus mounted on mobile vehicle chassis have been used to solve the problem of cutting brush from the adjacent right-of-way surrounding a railroad track. However, no apparatus exists for safely cutting the brush underneath a railroad tressel or similar overpass. Cutting the brush below railroad tressels in areas that are covered in water and vegetation has always presented a problem requiring extensive hand work to control the growth. Known vehicle-mounted brush cutters used for removing brush from around railroad tracks have not been successful in cutting brush under the tracks because of the potential for damaging the structures underneath railroad tracks by cutting into them.
In using a typical vehicle mounted brush cutter, the operator sits in a control station in which he can view the cutting blade. From the control station the operator controls the location of the cutting blade and thereby controls where the cutting blade will cut. On known vehicle mounted brush cutters that use an expandable boom to control the cutting head, the control station is an integrated part of the turntable body. From his location above the turntable body, the operator is able to view those areas adjacent to a railroad track, but the operator is not able to see below the tracks. Therefore, the operator cannot safely cut brush below the tracks because of his obstructed view. Nothing in the prior art provides a method for cutting below railroad tracks with an unobstructed view of what is being cut.
For example, the apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,593 to Emery is useful for cutting vegetation along railroad right-of-ways. However, that apparatus cannot cut vegetation growing below railroad tressels and overpasses. In particular, the apparatus in Emery cuts vegetation on both sides of a railroad track at various levels, but not underneath a railroad tressel or below the line of sight of the operator where obstructions exist. The apparatus has two boom assemblies with each boom assembly having a cutting member attached thereto for cutting vegetation. Therefore, the apparatus eliminates labor and time in cutting vegetation along railroad right-of-ways, but leaves the vegetation below railroad tressels to be cut using manual labor that is both expensive and time consuming.
Thus, there is a need for a mobile apparatus for cutting and clearing brush that can cut brush underneath railway tressels and below the line of sight of the primary operator of the vehicle. There is a further need for a mobile apparatus for cutting and clearing brush that has greater flexible and reach for cutting brush underneath railway tressels and also a greater distance away from railway tressels. There is yet another need for a mobile apparatus for cutting and clearing brush that can cut brush underneath a roadway overpass.